Although the city of St. Paul and Minneapolis-based Ryan Cos. on Tuesday finalized the first part of a design-build contract for the new Saints ballpark, it’s still not clear if the city saved any money by opening the project for competitive bidding.

St. Paul may have design-build authorization to construct the new $54 million Saint Paul Saints stadium, but experts say that doesn’t necessarily give the city the green light to hand-pick a design-build contractor without considering other bids.